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DEPARTMENT OF FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
FALL 2008
(UPDATED 5/8/08)
MEDIA STUDIES
Media/Film 151
INTRODUCTION TO FILM & VIDEO TECHNIQUES
Michael Cokkinos
The single most important thing that goes into making a successful filmmaker is the passion to tell a story. The second is technique. You just can’t build it without the proper tools. Whether it is lenses,
lights, or mics you have to understand the fundamentals of using these production tools in order
to communicate your vision. Introduction to Film & Video Techniques gives you the foundation you need.
The class takes the media production process and deconstructs it into its most basic components.
Through lecture, demonstration, and screening, students will learn the basic concepts of media
production: frame, sound, light, time, motion, sequencing, etc., and be able to apply them to any
medium they choose. Students will also become well grounded in the digital work environment and the tools required to produce media in the digital age. There are three equally weighted exams and a six page paper.
MEDIA 161
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL MEDIA
Jenny Vogel
A hands-on introduction to the tools, techniques, and concepts behind the production of digital media, including basic digital imaging, sound production, and animation concepts.
This class emphasizes an integrated and creative approach to digital media production, including but not limited to detailed instruction and practice in the technical aspects of production. It is designed to give students a firm grounding in the tools, techniques, and ways of thinking necessary in advanced digital media courses and will include the use of digital cameras and scanning, bitmap and vector-based graphics, output for both screen and print, digital audio recording and editing, and animation. The course will also include discussion of contemporary issues related to digital media such as interactivity, copyright, privacy, identity and others. It will also introduce the students to concepts of design, layout and typography.
MEDIA 180
INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA STUDIES
Robert Stanley
The media of mass communication are pervasive and ubiquitous and their influence is obviously profound. The development of books, newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and movies, and the growth of the World Wide Web and instantaneous global communication by means of orbiting satellites, have left few spheres of human existence untouched. This course provides an introductory understanding of the nature and functions of the communications media and the influences that they have on us as individuals and as a society. Particular attention is given to the social and political factors that shape mass communication.
Each Monday and Wednesday [pic]we will meet for a common lecture session in 615 HW, where general themes will be introduced and developed. Lecture titles and related readings are included in the class schedule that follows. Once a week you will also meet in the discussion sections for which you have registered. Your section instructor will review the assigned readings. You should carefully study the assigned reading prior to the scheduled date so that you will be able to participate in class discussion and follow the lecture. (The times and locations of the discussion sections are listed in the Hunter College Schedule of Classes.)
There will be four unscheduled in-class quizzes during the semester. There will also be two examinations during the semester, and a final examination during Final Exam Week. In addition, there is short paper. Your final grade in the course will be determined by averaging the average grade of three of the four quizzes, the grades on the two examinations, the final exam grade, the grade for class participation, and the writing assignment grade.
MEDIA 275.00
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
Jim Fleming
Students in this course will learn basic image manipulation, illustration, typography, scanning, page-layout and design on the Macintosh microcomputer platform, using computer facilities at Hunter provided by the Film and Media Department and the Office of Instructional Computing and software site-licensed through Hunter College or made available by the instructor.
The goal of the course is to give students experience with, and knowledge of, basic microcomputer uses for print-production (and, increasingly, electronic new media) and an introduction to graphic design.
MEDIA 299.15
DIGITAL DESING AND USABILITY
Staff
An intermediate design course with an emphasis on graphic design (typography, layout, legibility), interface design, interaction design, and usability. During the first part of the class, the focus will be on design, type, and composition. The class will examine ways of using illustrations and photographs in layouts as well as advanced tools for graphic design projects and interactive projects. Students focus on letterform, composition, and color, proportion, and how these elements translate to interaction design. Cultural and individual differences, design trends, and design research will be emphasized.
The second half of the class shifts to studying the interaction with the design by users. Class work is centered on student projects involving the manipulation of layouts and typography for both print and Internet, while incorporating principles of human factors and strategies for effective human-computer interaction.
MEDIA 299.46
INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES
Liat Ginsberg
This course will examine the dynamics of the interview, and is designed to teach both the theoretical and practical principles of interviewing.
The course is designed to demonstrate the multiple layers and functions of an interview within the context of journalistic inquiry. Students will learn the process of researching and planning the interview and become knowledgeable of its various components.
These include skills associated with the art of listening and learning to recognize distinctions between open and closed questions. Other learning objectives are identifying notable quotations and anecdotes as a means toward building confidence and asking challenging questions. The course will articulate the distinctions between various interview formats (broadcast, print) and review the theoretical constructs associated with the ethics of an interview
There are two writing requirements:
Transcribed street interviews encompassing five subjects on a researched current affairs topic.
An in depth interview with a subject resulting in a feature story. Story ideas and themes will be discussed in class and guided by the instructor.
MEDIA 313:051
CULTURE OF PUBLICITY
Michael D'Elia
In the age of James Carville and Karl Rove "leading" the "sheeple," in the age of "shock and awe" and "collateral damage," "rendition" and "harsh interrogation,", instant polls and push polls, "astroturf organizing" and "advertorials," trademarks and "lovemarks," "clean coal" and "beyond petroleum," green Walmart and organic cigarettes, "naming rights" and a corporate logo above every venue and charity event – this course investigates how it ALL began.
Culture of Publicity is an in-depth study of the history of the public relations profession, primarily focused on the U.S., but also touching on developments in other nations and reflecting on changes in the field in the era of globalization and multiculturalism. Ethics is a central concern of the course, and questions of truth and power in a democratic society are addressed throughout. This course is reading intensive with assessment based upon two essay exams, a group research project and participation in class exercises.
MEDIA/FILM 315.001
NON-FICTION FILM & VIDEO
Carolyn Strachan
This course traces the history of documentary filmmaking examining the range of documentary forms from the experimental to the realist: Soviet and German avant-gardes (Vertov, Ruttman), the British Movement (Wright), ethnographic (Flaherty, Rouch, McDougalls) advocate (Watkins, Strachan/Cavadini, Julien). Applying theories of aesthetics, sociology, psychology, history, politics, the films in one way or another problematise conventional distinctions between fact/narrative/fiction. It also distinguishes the documentary form as a means to reflect or challenge certain cultural and social ideas.
The course requires weekly readings and 5 written assignments. Students must have a strong ability to absorb theoretical concepts and write competent college papers.
Film/Media 327.051
REPRESENTATIONS OF RACE
Blanca Vazquez
This course examines media representations of African
Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans
and Americans of Middle Eastern descent in Hollywood
films and television. Representations by minority
filmmakers in independent media are also contrasted.
Ideologies of race are explored as students learn to
read racial coding in narrative film and video.
Emphasis is on representations of groups as tied to
the nation's conception of itself since its founding,
i.e., who is is a "real" American and fit for
citizenship. Midterm (in class and take home essay)
and final paper analyzing racial coding in a film or
TV series required.
Film/Media 332.001
Myths and Images
Blanca Vazquez
The significance of national myths and the media's
role in what we know about the world are explored.
Students will monitor mainstream,
independent/alternative and foreign media for
contrast. Three segments explore: coverage of national
elections since the 1950s; the myth of war in war
reporting from Vietnam to Iraq; and the evolving sense
of law and order and crime and punishment as revealed
in television cop shows of different eras. Three short
papers and Midterm (in class and take home essay)
required.
MEDIA 373
JOURNALISM AS LITERATURE
Harry Brunius
Journalism as Literature will survey the kind of journalistic writing that emphasizes creative storytelling and compelling narrative drama. With such a class, we will be doing a lot of reading and I mean a lot. We will study journalists who have applied fictional techniques to their storytelling (although these techniques may have originated with non-fiction), and who strove to be artists as well as journalists. In the process, we will consider questions of truth and reality and the relevance of so-called literary non-fiction today.
The course begins with writers such as Walt Whitman and Stephen Crane, both of whom began their careers as journalists. We will study a number of book-length works of narrative non-fiction, including John Hersey's “Hiroshima" and Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." Although this is a lecture and discussion class, students will have the option of composing their own work of narrative non-fiction.
MEDIA 374
MEDIA, SPORTS, AND SOCEITY
Larry Shore
This course will examine the relationship between the mass media and sports and the role of sports in society. This will involve tracing the history of spectator sports; the 19th century growth of newspaper coverage of sports; the arrival of radio sports broadcasting in the 1920’s; the dramatic growth of the television-sports-advertising-complex and the impact of the Internet on the media/sports industry. The course will also consider the economics and operations of the TV sports business and analyze the construction of a TV sports production.
The course will also examine important issues such as: sport and race in American society; women and sports; sports and male culture; and sports and national identity. Major and minor American spectator sports will be examined in addition to sports popular in other countries and the Olympic Games.
MEDIA 375.001
MEDIA & POLITICS IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE
Rob Claus
This course explores the impact of the electronic and digital media on American politics and the variety of ways in which the media and politics are interactive and interdependent. We will primarily examine the traditional aspect of that relationship – press coverage of politicians and the political process – as well as how politicians use the media to communicate to voters and citizens. The course will cover the principal mediums of print, television and the Internet, as well as the various strategies, tactics and tools employed by both the media and politicians.
The focus is primarily on national politics, especially the presidency and presidential campaigns. There is a significant amount of reading and the assignments are writing intensive, including three shorter papers and a take-home mid-term and final. The class emphasizes critical analysis and a solid understanding of journalism and politics is very helpful.
MEDIA 380
HISTORY OF BROADCASTING
Fortune
The course reviews the historical evolution of radio and television. Focusing on programming, regulation, and policy issues.
Media 383
POPULAR MUSIC & THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
Patrick
Music is part of everyday cultural and society with unlimited reach to the masses globally, nationally, and locally. It is a driving force that we may or may not take for granted and it is ultimately a freedom of our expression in each and every one of our cultures. This course is designed to provide students the framework for understanding the dynamics of the music industry and the integral players (industry executives, artists, producers, writers, etc.) who encompass it. We will cover recent and historical events affecting the fundamental structure of the companies that make up the industry. Exploration of social and cultural significance of popular music; history, structure, and economics of the industry. Case studies and project work will be included.
MEDIA 384
WOMEN AND MEDIA
Ragan Rhyne
Women have been long a favorite subject of cultural and artistic production, and have also been the primary target demographic of most commercial visual media. This course will examine the relationship between women and media through an exploration of film, print, and television. The first section of the course will introduce the theoretical foundations of feminist film and media studies: psychoanalysis, spectatorship, art history, cultural studies, and genre, primarily through analysis of film texts. The second section of the class will apply these concepts to the study of women and television, not only through representation, but through an understanding of women as artistic producers and market consumers.
MEDIA 390
BROADCAST JOURNALISM
Higgins
This course enables students to learn the fundamentals of writing television news stories for network and local television. In addition to studying the mechanics of television writing, various industry policy issues will be discussed.
MEDIA 399.27
TELEVISION COMEDY & SITCOMS
Andrew Susskind
This course explores the history of television comedy, most specifically the situation comedy, and examines its role as both programming staple and artistic form. Through an analysis of the sitcom's reflection of our society and its view of such issues as family structure, race, male-female relationships, the changing workplace environment, and political correctness, lectures and discussion seek to encourage students to gauge where both culture and the sitcom are headed. Participants learn how the structure of television studios, networks, and production companies affect content, and how creators must employ talent, vision, and determination to battle television's inherent structural resistance to new or risky concepts.
MEDIA 399.34
CULT TV THEORY
Rebekah McKendry
This course will explore the historical and cultural development of “cult” television, from the addictive first episode of Doctor Who to the legions of Buffy fans to the demise and fan based return of Family Guy. We will look at the ways in which cult programs are often abandoned by their networks, due to poor ratings, only to become loved and celebrated by diverse communities, and often have the potential to subvert dominant media hierarchies. We will explore the interrelationship between American and British cult television, as well as the play between two important cultural modes—"cult" and "camp"—as they often collide within these texts.
This class, is a combination of lecture, show screenings, and discussions. There is one required textbook and additional readings through blackboard. Major assignments are a 15 minute presentation, discussion-question based midterm, and final essay of 5-8 pages.
MEDIA 399.37
CONCEPTS OF GAMING
Mary Flanagan
This class surveys historical and current practices in game design. Part one is a survey of play theories. Part two covers essential concepts of interaction including cybernetics, game theory, flow, progression, and emergence. Part three of the class looks at computer games specifically and examines the relationship between game engines and level design. Part four examines the rise of casual games and the impact of socially aware design on entertainment.
MEDIA PRODUCTION
MEDP 278:001 (4129)
INTERACTIVE MEDIA PRODUCTION
Jeff Gray
Interactive Media Production is a semester long introduction and exploration of the Processing environment (). Throughout the 14 weeks, we will explore the computational approach as a bridge between media/art projects with the users and participants that interact with it. We will be exploring Processing as a tool for harnessing video, audio, web, as well as keyboard and mouse interaction, as we explore how to connect assets to create thought-provoking projects.
Students are encouraged to bring creative ideas and past projects they hope to explore in an interactive landscape. Weekly class times will be a mix of teaching core concepts of processing and programming, a viewing of student’s projects and code, and conversations on what makes engaging interactive projects successful.
Students with no previous programming experience to proficiency in programming are encouraged to attend.
MEDP 285
WEB PRODUCTION I
Sha Sha Feng
This hands-on class teaches you the skills needed to build simple, well-designed web sites. Learn how to layout pages, format text, and optimize images for professional looking web pages. Classes cover HTML coding, hypertext links, manipulating text and graphics, creating and optimizing GIFs and JPEGs, animated GIFs, image maps, tables, frames, and more advanced web interactivity through creating rollovers and animations using layers. Lectures and exercises focus on creating cohesive websites with effective mapping, clear and consistent navigation, interactivity, and usability issues.
MEDP 290
DEVELOPING THE DOCUMENTARY
Melanie La Rosa
Verite or experimental? Personal diary, interviews, or archives? Use all of these approaches, or something else entirely? In Developing the Documentary, students will research and plan a documentary film they would like to make. The course begins with a screening series of historically important and award-winning contemporary documentaries covering a range of structures, styles, and stories. It then covers the business and planning aspects of filmmaking. Students write brief papers each week about films they are watching, a midterm paper on style, and a final proposal for their film, including treatment and budget. Particular attention is paid to developing an awareness of visual style and choosing appropriate ways to craft an engaging and dynamic non-fiction film.
MEDP 292
BASIC REPORTING
David Alm
This course introduces students to the basics of journalistic writing and addresses the ethical and business aspects of the profession. The classroom becomes an editorial office, and students develop projects designed to cover the broad spectrum of journalistic styles, including profiles, hard news, and feature writing. Secondly, we will read work by some of the field's sharpest critics to analyze the bigger picture of a journalist's role in contemporary society
MEDP 293
ADVANCE REPORTING AND WRITING
Michael Arena
This course teaches the skills and attitudes necessary for journalist in the internet age. Our goal is to develop reporting and writing skills, news judgment and ethical sensitivity. Particular attention will be given to source development, interview techniques, document and Web-based research, and ways to cover an increasingly diverse society. Edited stories, images, audio/video clips and other publishable content is showcased via the class website at .
MEDP 294
MAGAZINE WRITING
Harry Bruinius
In Magazine Writing, you will survey the current market of specialized glossies while continuing to learn the basics of original news gathering, accurate reporting, and clear, journalistic prose. You will write stories, not papers, for an audience that will include your classmates as well as your instructor, while experimenting in a variety of magazine story types. These will include the traditional journalistic profiles and feature-stories, but we will also learn the art of magazine review writing and "how-to" stories which constitute a big part of magazine writing these days.
Students will also learn how to write query letters and, by the end of the semester, will pitch a story idea to a magazine editor of the student's choosing. The final story of the semester will be based on this query, and submitted for publication.
MEDP 312
ADVANCED DOCUMENTARY DIGITAL EDITING
Kelly Anderson
This class is a theoretical and hands-on approach to editing documentary. You will:
• learn to organize footage (logging, transcribing, creating systems for tracking material through the post-production process)
• learn the basic language of editing, including why cuts work (or don’t), and how to motivate your transitions from shot to shot
• recognize various stylistic approaches to documentary, and choose the best approach for your material
• understand dramatic storytelling, and use tools like paper editing to create a plan for editing
• learn Final Cut Pro, a non-linear editing program
• assemble several cuts of your documentary and present them
• learn to give constructive feedback to your colleagues on their cuts
• study the use of narration, interview, music, text, graphics and other techniques and apply them as appropriate to your documentary
• create a final version of your documentary (10-20 minutes) suitable for exhibition
Students will work with material from MEDP 311: Documentary Production. There may be space for students who have other material to work with, or who want to work with material provided by me.
MEDP 339.12
PRODUCING FOR TELEVISION
Andrew Susskind
This course introduces students to the art and craft of producing for television. Arguably the most misunderstood of all production functions, the role of the producer is central to the creation, maintenance, and ultimate success of a television series, movie, or special.
The course examines each aspect of the producer’s function including creative catalyst, salesman, financial and physical production supervisor, problem-solver, cheerleader, parent, and boss. Students will also learn the functions of the various producer titles: executive producer, supervising producer, line producer, co-producer, etc., as well as those of all other jobs involved in a production, and will study the producer’s role in the developing, selling, pre-production, production, post-production, delivery, and marketing of a show.
Through lectures, readings, class assignments, guest speakers, and screenings of programs, students study the relationship of the producer to all the constituencies associated with a production: networks, studios, casts & crews, press, and audience.
MEDP 341
WEB PROGRAMMING
Jeff Gray
This hands-on class teaches you the skills needed to build simple, well-designed web sites. Learn how to layout pages, format text, and optimize images for professional looking web pages. Classes cover HTML coding, hypertext links, manipulating text and graphics, creating and optimizing GIFs and JPEGs, animated GIFs, image maps, tables, frames, and more advanced web interactivity through creating rollovers and animations using layers. Lectures and exercises focus on creating cohesive websites with effective mapping, clear and consistent navigation, interactivity and usability issues.
Throughout the class, we will be focusing on PHP as our server-side programming language, using it to produce pages that are gathering content from mySQL databases, aggregating content from outside XML/RSS feeds, reading email, and accessing other areas of data. We will also be exploring how to handle sessions in a website, so that certain information will be carried with the user across a website, and will be exploring some of the finer points of database design.
In reality, there are more tools and techniques available today that we have time for in the scope of the semester. The goal of this class is to enable incoming interests of the students, and enable them to become the gurus of a particular area of dynamic web-design. Students will be encouraged to share various tools and code snippets. Along with weekly instruction in class, students will be left with a
store-house of tools at their disposal as they continue building projects in the future.
MEDP 399.09
GAME PROGRAMMING I
Angela Ferraiolo
This class is an introduction to object oriented programming and beginning game architecture for media students. The goal is to learn to 'think in code' and to be able to write small applications that manipulate graphics, sound, video, text, and animation. It assumes no prior programming experience.
Concepts covered include: objects, classes, event architecture, inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism, expressions, variables, methods, functions, arrays, data types, conditionals, loops, case statements, timers, mouse and keyboard events, audio programming, video streaming, basic kinematic animation, collision detection, use of debuggers, profiles, testing tools, and rapid prototyping. The class is taught in Actionscript 3.0.
MEDP 399.15
THE NEIGHBORHOOD ORAL HISTORY WORKSHOP: HARLEM
Levy
Combining methods in documentary, oral history, and urban studies, this course explores the concept of “neighborhood” and seeks to understand how it operates in Harlem today. Using digital audio recorders, students will record and transcribe one-on-one interviews with community members to help capture and preserve a small portion of Harlem’s collective memory and to identify issues of local importance as defined by Harlem residents. Working collaboratively with community-based organizations, students will seek to identify some of Harlem’s most pressing needs, the challenges it currently faces, and the degree to which a collective neighborhood vision for the future exists. In the final weeks of the course, students will transform their raw audio testimonies into short documentary pieces in one of a wide variety of mediums, including (but are not limited to): video, photography, radio, journalistic writing, theatrical performance, and graphic illustration.
MEDP 377
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
Bernard L. Stein
The classroom is the newsroom and students the staff of The Hunts Point Express, serving the Hunts Point and Longwood neighborhoods of the South Bronx with a website () and monthly newspaper.
Readings, discussions and visitors broaden understanding of the issues facing one of the poorest communities in the United States. Students write news and feature stories about the neighborhoods’ people and institutions and the problems they confront. Broad topics include housing, crime, development, religion, local business, historic preservation, environmental concerns, health, schools, transportation, politics, parks; but specific stories come from diligent on-the-spot reporting to learn the concerns of the neighborhood’s people. As reporters, students will interview residents, elected officials, and community leaders; attend public meetings; examine public records; and pound the pavement in search of a telling story.
This course may be taken twice for credit.
FILM STUDIES
FILM 101
INTRODUCTION TO CINEMA
Robert Stanley
This introductory course, is concerned with movies as an art form, an industry, and a system of communication and representation with enormous power and reach. Careful consideration is given to such factors as movie history and tradition, technical advances, shooting and editing techniques, narrative structures, genre conventions, acting approaches, stereotypical representations, censorship concerns, industrial developments, and the collaborative aspects of production. The principal focus is on American cinema but influential foreign films are analyzed as well. The course combines lecture and discussion.
Film 101 offers a general introduction to the techniques, the vocabulary, and the history of film art. The stylistic properties of each film are determined at the level of the film itself, but also through a grid of cultural, thematic, and artistic values. Although documentaries and avant-garde {experimental films} are discussed, the emphasis is on narrative cinema. Three required texts, exams and shot by shot studies.
Each [pic]Monday and Wednesday, we will meet for a common lecture session, where general themes will be introduced and developed. Once a week you will also meet in the discussion sections for which you have registered. (The times and locations of the discussion sections are listed in the Schedule of Classes.)
There will be four unscheduled in-class quizzes during the semester. There will also be two examinations during the semester, and a final examination during Final Exam Week. In addition, there is short paper (see addendum for details). Your final grade in the course will be determined by averaging the average grade of three of the four quizzes, the grades on the two examinations, the final exam grade, the grade for class participation, and the writing assignment grade.
FILM 213:07
Italian Cinema
Ivone Margulies
Italian Cinema surveys two main waves of Italian Cinema. In the postwar Neorealism put Italian Cinema in the aesthetic map. Films like Bicycle Thieves, Rome Open City and La Terra Trema redefined cinematic realism as the filmmakers strove to depict Italy’s social realities. We shall discuss a range of realist strategies created to represent collective plights of unemployment and political resistance. Italian Cinema from the sixties is internationally recognized for its more radical political and social commentary. We explore some of the modernist strategies incorporated in this later movement as filmmakers like Antonioni, Rosi, and Fellini expand their definitions of realism. This course charts major trends--thematic and stylistic--from the mid forties neorealist films to the mid seventies. We shall discuss the political, social, and aesthetic backgrounds for Italian Cinema focusing on the work of selected filmmakers.
Grades are based on two multiple choice and essay question exams (Midterm- 40% and Final 60%).
FILM 215:00
WOMEN AND FILM
Ivone Margulies
Women and Film surveys the history of women's representation and aesthetics in the cinema, with special attention to developments after the seventies U.S. feminist movement. Our main focus is films by women directors, and we look at documentaries, experimental and short and feature fiction films made in the U.S. and abroad.
Films studied include: The Woman’s Film San Francisco Newsreel 1969; The Politics of intimacy Julie Gustafson 1971; The Smiling Mme Beudet. Dulac, 1923; Meshes of the Afternoon, Deren, 1942; The Connection, 1960 Portrait of Jason 1980 Clarke ;Daughter Rite, Michelle Citron 1978; All round Reduced Personality, Helke Sander; India Song, Duras 1975; Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Akerman 1975; A Girl’s Own Story, Campion; From romance to Ritual, Peggy Ahwesh; Daughters of the Dust, 1990; The silences of the Palace; La Cienega, Lucrecia Martel.
We investigate the marginality of women and the avant garde vis-a-vis commercial cinema, and the growing presence of women (and minorities) in the eighties and nineties independent cinema.
Grades are based on a midterm exam (40%) and a Final Exam (60%) The exams will consist of short and essay long questions.
FILM 322
The main objective of this course is to provide a first approach to some of the central concepts of contemporary film theory: realism and the contestation of realism, genre theory, psychoanalysis and film, the auteur theory, film technology, and aesthetics. Course packet, required readings, exams.
FILM 323
AESTHETICS OF CAMERA MOVEMENT
Joe McElhaney
This course will examine the expressive function of camera movement, from the silent era up through the present day, and within a wide range of national cinemas and filmmaking practices. Attention will be given to filmmakers who have had full access to the most sophisticated camera technology at their disposal; but equal importance will be given to filmmakers who have created within much more restricted technical and economic limits. Moreover, great attention will be given to questions of blocking and staging of action within the shots and how this, in turn, affects the overall perception of movement. While great emphasis will be placed on analyzing camera movement within the styles of various filmmakers, we will also be addressing how and why the camera has moved in certain ways due to important historical and cultural shifts. Among the filmmakers to be discussed: Altman, Scorsese, Kubrick, Visconti, Fellini, Hitchcock, Murnau, Ophuls, Preminger. Two close analysis papers will be required.
FILM/MEDIA 326
AMERICA IN AMERICAN FILM & VIDEO
Prof. Margulies
In AMERICA IN AMERICAN FILM & VIDEO we investigate how American films and videos (from the 1930s to the present) represent AMERICAN IDENTITY. How do films depict "real" Americans as opposed to those who are supposedly "threatening" the nation's identity? How do the films' genres (westerns, war films, private detective, immigration epics) each give a different perspective on the quest for national identity? The significance of the frontier myth in American culture as well as the different values accorded to violence will be an important theme in the course. Another important line of discussion relates to the interpretation of equal rights in American society (the opposition between individual freedom and government control; integration and segregation, etc). In the course we look at documentary, experimental, short and feature fiction films.
Grades are based on a Midterm exam (40%) and Final exam (60%).
FILM 397.49
TOPICS IN FILM HISTORY: THE 1950s
Joe McElhaney
During the 1950s, the cinema underwent significant economic, cultural, and formal changes. In this course, we will examine the breakdown of the traditional Hollywood studio system, the increased importance of art cinema and other alternative filmmaking practices, and the emergence of the concept of the director as auteur. But we will also examine the ways in which the cinema of the 1950s, in the aftermath of World War II, addresses two seemingly very different but, in fact, closely linked topics: the importance of diverse cultures attempting to bridge their pre-war and wartime divides within the context of post-war humanism (often through films in which the activity of travel assumes a fundamental role); and the need to settle down, to own a home and make a strong connection or re-connection with family and community. Among the filmmakers whose work will be screened: Fellini, Hitchcock, Buñuel, Renoir, Minnelli, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Satyajit Ray, Nicholas Ray, Rossellini. For their written work, students may choose between taking two in-class exams, two research papers, or taking one exam and writing one paper.
FILM PRODUCTION
FILMP 151
INTRODUCTION TO FILM AND VIDEO TECH
Frank Martinelli
This overview course introduces students with little or no previous knowledge of film and video production to the basic technical and aesthetic concepts in media production. By combining lectures, screenings, and hands on equipment demonstrations and exercises, the course provides students with a strong grasp of key concepts and skills.
Areas of study include all stages of production, film and video cameras, film stocks and video formats, lenses, lighting, sound recording, basic approaches to editing and postproduction, directing and acting for the camera, screenwriting and storyboarding, and discussion of the film and video industries.
Through a study of perceptual principles and the visual vocabulary of the moving image, the student will discover more about the underlying forms, principles, and processes of media making. The course of study is placed within the context of the history and evolution of film and video technology, industry, and art. It is hoped that the development of a critical vocabulary, an analytical perspective, and technical skills will provide students with the background necessary to pursue further studies in film and video production.
This course is designed as a preparatory course for future film and video production courses.
FILMP 251
FILM PRODUCTION 1
S. Thakur
Film Production 1 is an intensive hands-on film production course designed to familiarize students with the fundamental cinematic language of narrative films through the production of three short movies - from concept to screen. Students write, produce, shoot and edit original films utilizing the basic principles for organizing cinematic space, time and movement. In these projects students employ a range of cinematic techniques to tell stories, convey character state of mind, create emotional moods and communicate information and meaning. Given that the technical and the creative dimensions of film production are inextricably linked, students are given a solid foundation in essential filmmaking techniques, technology and procedures. Also central to the course is an appreciation of filmmaking as a collaborative art form, so students are required work in a variety of crew roles and to work as a creative team.
Over the course of the semester, every student completes one short film as a director; but will also serve as cinematographer, production manager and editor on other projects. All projects are shot on 16mm film without sync sound, placing the storytelling emphasis on visual elements: image, actions, shot selections, art direction and editing. In addition to the film projects, there is a mid-term and a final exam.
FILMP 276
SCREENWRITING I
Mick Hurbis-Cherrier
Screenwriting I is an intensive writing workshop were students learn the fundamentals of dramatic writing for film. The first half of the course is built around lectures, screenings and exercises where students explore the essential material for all screenwriting, regardless of scale: dramatic structure, visual writing, characterization and proper script formatting and language. The second half of the semester focuses on the specific conceptual and creative challenges involved in writing in the short form.
Throughout the semester, students practice these concepts in their own original screenplays that are subsequently brought before the class for extensive peer critiques. Students write several dramatic exercises and complete at least two drafts of an original short film script up (approx. 25 pages).
Screenwriting I was also designed to be preparatory for subsequent writing and production classes, namely: Screenwriting II, Film Production II and Production Seminar.
This course counts toward the general education writing requirement.
FILMP 352.001
FILM PRODUCTION II
Gustavo Mercado
This course builds on the foundation laid by Film Production I, preparing students for the creation of more complex short film productions. Topics covered include: theory and practice of sync sound recording, production logistics, fundamentals of sound design, basic lighting and exposure control, filtration and color temperature, lab processes, and post-production workflows. Over the course of the semester students work in groups and write, direct, and produce a short sync sound film, with an emphasis on achieving technically proficient images and sound. Two exams (a midterm and a final) are given.
FILMP 371.001
SCREEN DIRECTING
Andrew Lund
This course introduces advanced film production students to the skills and tools necessary for successful dramatic screen directing in a single-camera film or television production situation. The course covers the scope of the director’s responsibilities during all stages of production and emphasizes the development of narrative storytelling tools. Pre-visualization work focuses on various approaches to script analysis and explores methods of going from the script to the screen. By generating multiple approaches to staging and filming the same scene, we examine how camera and actor staging contribute to cinematic storytelling.
The course emphasizes directing actors, covering character research, communicating with actors, methodological approaches, rehearsal strategies, and improvisation techniques. We strive for students to make each directorial choice, whether practical, technical or creative, fundamentally connected with their vision for the work. Written assignments, production projects and in-class exercises focus on various aspects of the directing process and highlight the convergence of craft and creativity. Classes also include analysis of directorial style in various screenings, workshop critiques of student projects and guest lectures by film industry professionals.
FILMP 377
SCREENWRITING II
Ramin Serry
Screenwriting II is an advanced, intensive writing workshop where students develop their narrative, dramatic and cinematic skills by writing and revising a screenplay for a full-length feature film. For their screenplays, students are encouraged to choose any topic, genre or style that they find appealing. Throughout the semester, students will bring in excerpts of their scripts for extensive peer critique and discussion. All students are required to participate in class discussions, which helps them develop a capacity for critical thinking, creative analysis and constructive criticism. At the end of the semester, students are required to turn in a completed screenplay (minimum 90pp), an educational and worthwhile reward for their hard work.
FILMP 381.001
TECHNIQUES OF CINEMATOGRAPHY
Gustavo Mercado
In this course, students explore the building blocks of advanced cinematographic technique and aesthetics for film and digital video. Topics covered include: lenses, cinematic composition, advanced filtration, formats and their narrative potential, expressive use of lighting, camera movement, camera crew protocols, collaboration with other departments, and post production cinematographic tools and techniques. Students create two short projects during the semester (one in film, one in digital video) with an emphasis on achieving a polished look and the implementation of advanced cinematographic techniques. Two exams (a midterm and a final) are given.
FILMP 382
NARRATIVE EDITING
Andrew Lund
This class follows Film Production 2 and is the next step for students to complete the sync-sound film they produced in that course. Thus, students have transferred their film to videotape and can dive into learning the editing software Final Cut Pro while they bring their film through the post-production process.
In a workshop setting, students will be taught, step by step, the post-production process: digitizing, editing, syncing, picture editing, the basics of sound design, titles and finishing to DVD.
Beyond “pushing the right buttons”, students will also learn the grammar of various editing strategies (for example, continuity editing, dialogue editing, associational montage, dialectical montage, graphic matches, jump cuts).
To demonstrate that editing is more than just “cutting out the bad stuff,” students will apply these strategies to two projects. The first project is to make a trailer, working with dailies from feature films. This will be accompanied with a paper describing the student’s editing choices. The final project will be the fine cut of a synced-sound film (from Prod. 2), delivered on DVD. A post-production book will support the editing choices for the final project. Two tests will also be given.
FILMP 383.00/MEDP 399.98
SOUND FOR FILM AND VIDEO 2 (SOUND DESIGN)
Michael Gitlin
Prereq: Filmp 251 or Medp 281 or permission of instructor
This is a hands-on course about sound design for narrative, documentary and experimental
projects. This class is a chance to foreground the audible and to examine its aesthetic
possibilities, both in relationship to the image and as a thing in its own right.
Topics for the course will include: fundamental sound structures; the functions
of music and silence; using sound filters in post-production; creating voice-overs;
Foley and ADR work; and creating sound for 5.1 surround.
We'll be working with Soundtrack Pro, the audio post-production software bundled
in the Final Cut Studio. Some familiarity with Final Cut Pro will be helpful, but
is not required. Students will work on individual projects, beginning with a couple
of short exercises to become familiar with the software and basic sound design concepts,
and culminating in the creation of a complex sound design for a short film.
FILMP 399.xx
ADVANCE PRODUCING
Art Jones
For the ambitious, the industrious, the independent, and the strong of heart.
We will explore the full-contact sport of Producing as you develop a feature film project of your choice from start to finish. Yes, you will walk in the steps of a high-functioning Producer. From concept development to script, from packaging and financing to pre-production, you will shepherd your cinematic gem (non-studio, $1 million budget) through shoot and post, through festival strategies and marketing plans and ultimately, to silver screen glory (or a four-week run in Cleveland).
This course combines reading, lectures, screenings, assignments, guest speakers, and intensive class participation along with an emphasis on writing and organization skills. We will build on all that you’ve learned about filmmaking. You will need to come with some know-how; beginners will get lost quickly. In this class, you will be treated as a serious filmmaker, and in return, much will be expected of you. You’ll do most everything there is in the producing process – with tight deadlines, under intense yet loving pressure – everything except actually shooting, editing and reserving a hotel room in Cannes. Some things must be left for post-graduation.
Like maverick filmmakers John Sayles, Nancy Savoca, John Cassavetes, Spike Lee and Jane Campion, you will propel your project forward as an “indie triple-threat” – producer/ director/ writer – tackling all that you love and much that you don’t (including budgets, union negotiations, legal tangles and catering). You will be the prime-mover, navigating your film passionately, strategically and creatively through treacherous waters to the Promised Land – and you’ll learn to do it with the flexibility of a circus performer, handling the hire-wire, trapeze and lion-taming all at once. If this sounds like something you’d like to do for 13-weeks, armed with a smile and a “never say die” attitude, then step right up.
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FILMP 451/ MED 401.75
FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION SEMINAR
The Film and Media Production Seminar is a year-long, 400-level capstone production course, in which students complete a documentary, narrative or experimental short film/video project. The fall semester focuses on pre-production and the spring semester concentrates on post-production (production will normally occur between November and February). Students will be expected to work on developing their projects (e.g. writing screenplays, conducting documentary research) over the summer. Accepted students will have access to the Arri SR film camera and the Panasonic DVX-100 24P digital video camera as well as the full complement of lighting and sound recording equipment. Post-production will be on Final Cut Pro or Avid Express.
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